Fuel makes airline profits more elusive

Font Size:

By Dave Heitz | Wednesday, May 28, 2008 11:58 PM CDT | () comments

Q: What does jet fuel cost? Are there any airlines making a profit?

— Paul, Bettendorf

A: This Ask the Times reporter recently heard an expert talk about this on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” and found the clip online. The broadcast aired April 18 and featured Darryl Jenkins, an adviser to the airline industry. Yes, some airlines still turn a profit, but with jet fuel at $130 a barrel — up 60 percent in the last year alone — it’s tough. Jet fuel now accounts for about half of airlines’ operating costs, Jenkins said.

Jenkins called the Delta-Northwest merger “a marriage made in heaven,” because this means that for the first time one airline will be able to fly anywhere in the world, allowing it to increase product offerings and sell higher-priced products.

Meanwhile, small carriers are passing on the cost of jet fuel by raising rates and flying smaller, more economical airplanes, Jenkins said.

Q: Do you know how to contact someone in regards to Rose Lawn Cemetery in Moline? I’m trying to find the location of a burial site, but the sign on their window indicates they are out of business. I can’t believe a cemetery just goes out of business.

— A.A., Moline We tried to call Rose Lawn Cemetery, but the phone number has been disconnected. In February of 2007, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes issued a news release that stated cemetery owner Richard Cody had defrauded 196 consumers by selling them pre-need contracts without a license. The contracts, totaling $267,783, were not properly entrusted and have not been accounted for, Hynes charged.

A: The charges are class 4 felonies punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine. The comptroller’s office said there is nothing new to report since the news release last year.

People who have purchased pre-need contracts from the cemetery should call the Illinois Comptroller’s Office Cemetery Care and Burial Trust hotline at (877) 203-3401.

Q: When will we be getting new license plates in Iowa? We’ve had the same ones for more than 10 years and my pile of stickers is getting thick.

— Quad-Citian

A: It’s true the last time the license plate background was changed was in 1997, according to the Office of Vehicle Services with the Iowa Department of Transportation. Andrew Lewis, the assistant director of that office, said there are enough “plate characters,” (combinations of letters and numbers) to last through 2011 or 2012, according to estimates. In 2011 or 2012, the transportation department intends to issue new plants. As for those stickers, Lewis said old ones can be scraped off with an Exacto knife.